~ On the corner of Cesar Chavez and Soto Monday evening ~
I think one of the reasons Proposition 8 passed is because some people where too busy doing other things, while those against it were out in full force.
LA EASTSIDE
Life Beyond The River
~ On the corner of Cesar Chavez and Soto Monday evening ~
I think one of the reasons Proposition 8 passed is because some people where too busy doing other things, while those against it were out in full force.
No, it did pass. It will amend the constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. I saw no on 8 people (well, one guy) at my polling place. He was outside the 100 feet required by law. I didn’t see any yes on 8 people on the Westside, just no on 8 folks.
This still pisses me off.
those hot dogs look good!!! look how the guy leaning against the pole is staring at the guy with the hot dog.
hahahahahahhaahha
prop 8 passed. part of why it passed was because the majority of Black and Latino voters, many who were mobilized to vote for Obama, voted yes on it, something like 70% for Black voters, and more than half for Latino voters. part of that may have been the confusing way that the proposal was portrayed, but I think most of it was homophobia and bigotry within our communities. the churches, as always, played a big role in planting, fomenting, and fanning, the intolerance and hate.
My bad. I was a little mixed up there. None the less I share in your disgust. We can have a black President but same sex couples can’t get married !?!? It’s true that churches had their hand in the jar because the guy holding up the sign in the picture was from a church. His pastor was yelling through a mega phone.
Educate yourself, Kualyque.
“California is 43.1% white, 35.9% latino or hispanic, and 6.7% black (source). So even if every single black and latino person in the state voted Yes on 8, that doesn’t actually equal the 52% who voted for it. And since people of color are not the borg, you know how Prop. 8 passed? White people voted for it.” http://sparkymonster.livejournal.com/291430.html
If every brown person had refrained from voting for or against Prop 8, looking at how the numbers for the white voters broke down, it *still* would have passed.
White people put it on the ballot; white people’s money funded the public campaign supporting it (Mormon Church and the extremely rich Howard Ahmanson Jr. among principle backers); and the campaign opposing it screwed up a lot of the messaging.
It’s bad enough to hear the mainstream media and lgbt information sources deciding that it was nonwhite people to blame for Prop 8’s passage, instead of the failure of the mainline (read: white) lgbt community to effectively persuade their straight brethren to do the right thing and, if it’s to be believed, turn out the young white lgbt voting base in significant numbers.
They lost LA County for heaven’s sake. Wow.
I say that the mainline lgbt community need to look to itself before it starts deciding the ignorant darkies were to blame for the defeat. Then again, the mainline lgbt community routinely marginalizes the concerns of POC in their midst (or treats them as sexual fetish items) and appropriates the language and approach of the Civil Rights Era with little concern of deeper meaning, and has to *invent* POC lgbt groups because it just can’t be bothered to do outreach to the ones that exist already. So I’m not holding my breath.
Liz
I think an edit is in order.
Thank you Liz. Local blogs have been afire about how the minority vote actually voted to repress another minority, mostly by apologist douchebags willing to dump their own bigotry on others. I can point it out if you like.
What was clear as the Yes on 8 campaign made damn sure to obfuscate the language of their rhetoric enough to confuse those that hold English as their second language, as well as attempt to tie Obama to denying civil rights. It was clever and evil at the same time.
What is deeply unfortunate is that immigrants and minorities were duped into voting for the Proposition. What is more disgusting is that whites made the majority of the vote and they are willing to blame minorities for their vote.
Not out of the Dark Ages yet.
Liz,
Thank you so much for your comments, it prevented me from having to say it. Excellent point, excellent.
Browne
you all are right, my sincere apologies. thanks for correcting and educating me. I admit when my opinions are ignorant and malformed, it’s the only way that I progress, and I sincerely hope that expressing an ignorant opinion does not make me a “douchebag,” but just another fool struggling along to make sense and learn and develop better critical thinking skills and understanding. as I’ve said before, and demonstrated myself, not all opinions are valid, because not all opinions are based on solid information and well-thought ideas. these here arose from aping mainstream media reports, as well as from a frustration with people in my community and family supporting 8–not out of confusion or a lack of understanding of English, assumed or otherwise–but out of a clear understanding and bigotry. and church. again, my apologies.
Kualyque,
The misinformation that you received was from the “mainstream” press spreading lies. It continues to amaze me that the LA Times thinks inciting people in tabloid fashion is ok.
Of course homosexuality and bisexuality needs to be talked with in a serious way in the African-American and Latino communities, but in general too many of us those of us who are more liberal don’t want to burden people who look like us who are struggling economically with this too or we just don’t even talk to them at all and kind of just hang out with other like minded poc and you know as with Jasmyne Cannick who went after the “hood” votes (you know the guy on the corner drinking a 40) we must go after educating the hood on issues outside of just the traditional definition of civil rights.
We must build coalitions across racial, gender and sexual orientation lines. Our communities weren’t even really talked to by No on 8. The way it was worded it’s possible many people didn’t even know what they were voting for. The African-American community was largely ignored. I know I didn’t see anything. I go to Compton and South LA alot and you know while I talked to people I’m one person. I can’t talk to every person I see, had I had more funding I would be able to, but you know the people who hold the purse strings would rather the working class and poor not build coalitions, much easier to exploit them that way.
But that aside the way that this issue is being painted as a black and brown issue with specifically a black issue with lots of nasty comments towards black people (talks of taking away rights and boycotting businesses) I put on the media. The media who took this and slanted it in a racial way, when to me in general it looks like this was a religious vote and a vote owing to certain groups of people not thinking other groups of people matter and you know we all matter.
Everyone helped pass Prop 8.
Browne
But no one helped as much as the Mormon church. They were of course once persecuted for their marital practices, and whose leaders in defense wrote extensively on how government has no business defining marriage in defense of their own views. The irony, of course, is ridiculously strong and mind numbingly hypocritical.
Once one group assimilates and gets to the “next level”, too often they are more than willing to pull the ladder up to prevent the next group from getting on board.
The point is to say that this is why we have a constitutional democracy and a judicial branch of government, so to prevent a shifting mob rule legislating at the expense of the rights of minorities and shifting power relationships.
This constitutional problem is ultimately the biggest crime with Prop 8. If we live in a state were a simple 52% of the population guided by misinformation can remove the rights of others, then the constitution no longer effectively protects civil rights of minorities.
This may seem all fine and dandy if you, hypothetically, feel threatened by the existence of gay couples access to the legal benefits and protection of marriage. But what people don;t seem to understand is that the passage of Prop 8 sets a precedent that actually takes away EVERYONE’S minority rights- as now the document that was designed to protect minorities fundamental rights can be modified by a proposition made popular in the hysteria of the moment.
Everyone may have helped pass Prop 8, but in the end EVERYONE gets fucked by it.
Some stats for ya. In CD 14 (Huizar) (predominately Eastside & Northeast LA boundaries), Prop 8 was supported at 56% to 44% for No. In CD 1 (Reyes) it was 51% YES to 49% NO, CD 9 (Perry) YES 57% to 43% NO. In CD 12 (Smith..a Republican Seat) by far the most conservative district 49% yes 51% no. My home district 7 (Alarcón)…*GASP* 60% Yes 40% No. Hmmm The churches every other storefront and strip mall have something to do with that in CD 7 with that ratio.
From a political campaign experience, a lot of it has to do with the universe of voters that “turned out” and this included a lot of infrequent voters/low-propensity voters (rarely vote in any election) regardless of ethnicity that came out the woodworks to vote. When this happens you get a lot uninformed voters at the polls… hence 2003 Recall Election with its “record breaking” turn out.
Here are some future NO on 8 actions going on in LA/So CAL
Friday, Nov. 7
7 p.m. – Rally & March Long Beach
Meet at: Corner of Broadway and Redondo
Saturday, Nov. 8
6 p.m. – Rally & March Silverlake
Meet at: Sunset Junction, intersection of Sunset and Santa Monica Blvds.
Sponsor: http://www.answerla.org
Sunday, Nov. 9
1 p.m. – Rally East Los Angeles
Meet at: Lincoln Park, 3501 Valley Blvd., Los Angeles 90031
Sponsor: Latino/a LGBT Coalition. Email: latino.lgbt.coalition@gmail.com